(i) Technical Field
This invention relates to a thickness variation detector of a photoconductor, an image formation unit using the thickness variation detector, an image formation apparatus, a method for detecting a thickness variation of a photoconductor.
(ii) Related Art
Hitherto, an image formation apparatus of a printer, a copier, a facsimile, etc., adopting electrophotography has been configured as follows: After the surface of a photoconductor drum is charged to a potential by a charging roll, image light exposure is applied to the surface of the photoconductor drum to form an electrostatic latent image responsive to image information, the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoconductor drum is visualized by a developing unit to form a toner image, and the toner image formed on the photoconductor drum is transferred directly onto a record paper and then is fixed, thereby forming an image or is transferred onto the record paper through an intermediate transfer body and then is fixed, thereby forming an image.
In such an image formation apparatus, when a photosensitive layer is formed on the surface of the photoconductor drum shaped like a drum or a belt, it is practically difficult to uniformly form a layer over the full face of the photoconductor and when an image is formed, it is difficult to provide a uniform toner image along the circumferential direction of the photoconductor.